The present invention relates to position analyzers for vehicle drivers for analyzing the position of a vehicle driver, and in particular to such a position analyzer which determines the position of a vehicle driver in a three-dimensional coordinate system by processing signals supplied from a pair of two-dimensional image sensors.
Recent demands for improvements on automobiles have been directed to manually operated vehicle accessory devices which involve human-factor engineering, such as angle adjustment for rearview mirrors and air-conditioner exhaust duct and height adjustment for a tiltable steering wheel and headrest. It has been desired to allow these manual operations to be automatically performed according to the particulars of a vehicle driver. To achieve automatic operation it is necessary to obtain information on the position of the vehicle driver. A current practice involves detecting the fore-and-aft and height positions of a driver or his reclined posture to derive his personal position data. However, no personal data such as height and seated posture have been taken into account, thus precise information for individual drivers is lacking.
Automatic adjustment is thus desired to adapt the positions of driver assistance systems to individual driver's changing position. However, it requires precise determination of individual driver's positions in a three-dimensional coordinate system.